SGER: Zone Refining of Aqueous Solutions

摘要提案标题：SGER水溶液区域精炼提案编号：CTS-0553056主要研究员：菲利普·J·帕克，机构：威斯康星大学普拉特维尔分校区域精炼是一种冷冻浓缩技术，已在各种工业环境中广泛用于获得极高纯度的晶体。这一过程包括沿晶体材料移动加热区。加热区的温度高于晶体材料的熔化温度，因此加热区导致冻结锋沿固体晶体移动。就像几乎所有的冰冻锋面一样，这个冰冻锋面会把杂质推到自己的前面。移动的冷冻前沿在样品的一端分离杂质；反复经过加热区产生高纯度固体。目前还没有关于将区域精制应用于冷冻水溶液的报道。鉴于水溶液无处不在，这一过程可能会在饮用水处理、食品加工或工业废水净化等不同领域产生深远的影响。事实上，几乎任何需要从水溶液中去除污染物或在水溶液中浓缩污染物的研究领域，都可能受到这一探索性研究结果的影响。这项拟议的工作将探索三个变量对水溶液区域精制过程的影响：区域行进速度；污染物类型；以及区域通过次数。将使用四种类型的污染物，代表无机盐、有机化合物、悬浮固体和重金属。拟议工作的智力价值在许多方面都是显而易见的。首先，这项工作将增加对冷冻浓缩过程的理解，以及如何通过区域精炼来利用冷冻浓缩。其次，PI在与冻结相关的研究方面拥有丰富的经验，包括冰结晶学的基础研究和关于冻结/融化调节对水和废水处理残留物的影响的应用研究。第三，拟议的工作将随时得到国际和平研究所(威斯康星大学-普拉特维尔大学，或UWP)设施的支持。最后，本研究具有很高的创新性，因为目前还没有公开的信息表明区域精制对水溶液的有效性。从更广泛的影响角度来看，这项研究将对工科本科生产生积极的影响。本科生研究助理将从工程研究中的探索和发现中受益，接触研究将使他们有可能进入研究生院，这是像华盛顿大学这样以本科生为主的机构经常缺少的东西。此外，所有注册学习环境工程导论的学生都将有机会在实验室环境中使用该仪器。最后，如果结果是有希望的，这项工作很可能会导致水处理和晶体生长等领域之间富有成效和创新的合作伙伴关系。

Abstract Proposal Title: SGER Zone Refining of Aqueous Solutions Proposal Number: CTS-0553056 Principal Investigator: Philip J. Parker, Institution: University of Wisconsin - PlattevilleZone refining is a freeze concentration technique that has been used extensively to obtain extremely high purity crystals in a variety of industrial settings. The process involves moving a heating zone along a crystalline material. The temperature of the heating zone is higher than the crystalline material's melting temperature; thus the heating zone induces a freezing front to move along the solid crystal. Like nearly all freezing fronts, this freezing front pushes impurities ahead of itself. The moving freezing front segregates the impurities at one end of the sample; repeated passes by the heating zone results in a high purity solid. There are no reports in the literature on applying zone refining to frozen aqueous solutions. Given the ubiquity of aqueous solutions, the process could have far reaching consequences in fields as disparate as drinking water treatment, food processing, or industrial wastewater purification. Indeed, virtually any field of study that needs to either remove contaminants from an aqueous solution, or to concentrate contaminants in an aqueous solution, may be impacted by the results of this exploratory study. The proposed work will explore the impact of three variables on the zone refining process for aqueous solutions: zone travel speed; type of contaminant; and the number of zone passes. Four types of contaminants will be used, representative of an inorganic salt; an organic compound; suspended solids; and a heavy metal. The intellectual merit of the proposed work is evident in many ways. First, the work will increase the understanding of the freeze concentration process and how freeze concentration can be harnessed using zone refining. Second, the PI has extensive experience in research associated with freezing, including fundamental studies of ice crystallography and applied studies on the impact of freeze/thaw conditioning on water and wastewater treatment residuals. Third, the proposed work will be readily supported by the facilities at the PI's institution (the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, or UWP). Finally, the proposed work is highly innovative in that no published information demonstrates the effectiveness of zone refining on aqueous solutions.From a broader impacts perspective, this study will have a positive influence on undergraduate engineering students. The undergraduate research assistants will benefit from the inquiry and discovery that takes place in engineering research, and the exposure to research will introduce them to the possibility of attending graduate school, something often missing at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution such as UWP. Also, all students enrolled in Introduction to Environmental Engineering will have an opportunity to use the apparatus in a laboratory setting. Finally, if the results are promising, the work will most likely lead to productive and innovative partnerships between fields such as water treatment and crystal growth.